Clang! Sparks burst forth as Rosinante's blade clashed with Sakazuki. The moment Rosinante's sword struck, Sakazuki's body instantly flared with Armament Haki. Metal met Haki with a screech, lighting the air between them with fire.
Boom! Though Sakazuki's Haki had blocked Rosinante's slash, the immense force behind the blade still caught him off guard. The impact drove Sakazuki sliding backward, boots grinding against the deck.
There it is again—silent and invisible. Even Observation Haki can't sense him! If not for Armament Haki flaring up instinctively at the moment of danger, I would've taken that slash head-on.
As Sakazuki steadied himself, his heart churned with unease.
Realizing the threat Rosinante posed, Sakazuki immediately coated his entire body in Armament Haki. He was done holding back.
But Rosinante didn't feel victorious—if anything, his expression grew heavier. Sakazuki wasn't giving him time to breathe. In a flash of Soru, Sakazuki appeared before him, magma-coated arm swinging fiercely. Rosinante responded just as quickly, wrapping his blade in Armament Haki as their duel reignited.
Only moments into the fight, Rosinante realized the truth—he was completely outmatched.
Sakazuki was no Borsalino. Whether it was his Devil Fruit, Navy Rokushiki, or his dual mastery of Armament and Observation Haki, he had no clear weaknesses. Rosinante relied on his Devil Fruit powers to silence everything around him and enter a state of nothingness, making him undetectable to Observation Haki. But Sakazuki, through raw experience and deadly combat instincts, kept evading Rosinante's silent attacks and countering them with brutal precision.
Bang! Sakazuki's fist slammed into Rosinante's blade. The force behind it was so overwhelming that Rosinante was blasted backward, barely able to control his body.
"You still standing? Time to get out of here!" Rosinante skidded to a stop beside Jack. Glancing at his now-shattered blade, he spoke grimly.
"Retreat?" Jack blinked in confusion.
From what he'd seen, Rosinante wasn't any weaker than Sakazuki. Even if victory wasn't guaranteed, it didn't seem like defeat was certain either. Why retreat so suddenly?
Besides, Rosinante had already ordered the Mammoth Fleet to withdraw. Even if they wanted to escape, how? Rosinante had the power of flight—Jack didn't.
"Silence of Gravity!" Without warning, Rosinante grabbed Jack by the shoulder and, with a mighty twist, hurled him skyward.
At that moment, a blazing magma fist came crashing down. "Great Eruption!" The molten blow roared toward them, disintegrating everything in its path.
"Scorching Silence. Offensive Silence!" Rosinante raised one hand, halting the molten fist midair.
Then his other hand drew back.
"Crater Smash!"
BOOM! His punch exploded into Sakazuki's magma attack, their powers colliding violently. The force tunneled into the fiery fist, triggering a chain of explosions that rocked the entire warship.
When the inferno finally faded, Sakazuki stood alone. The place where Rosinante had stood moments before was nothing but scorched ash. But Sakazuki didn't believe for a second that Rosinante had been reduced to dust so easily.
"Pursue that pirate immediately!" Sakazuki roared.
"Vice Admiral, our ship is heavily damaged—it can't sail anymore!" a Marine reported anxiously.
Sakazuki's eyes darkened. Without hesitation, he kicked off the deck and launched himself forward. As he began to fall, he stepped on the air—BOOM—blasting it apart with raw force.
"Geppo!" Using Moonwalk, Sakazuki sprinted through the air like a missile.
"Vice Admiral Sakazuki!" the Marines shouted in awe as they watched him vanish into the sky.
Meanwhile, Jack was still flying—Rosinante's throw, amplified by the Gravity Silence, kept him in motion for a long while. When he finally came to a stop, he realized something incredible.
"…I'm floating?" Jack blinked. He was suspended midair.
"It's… the gravity thing, huh?" he muttered.
Without gravity, even the gentlest force let him move easily through the air. Though caught off guard at first, Jack's strength and instincts quickly adapted. Within moments, he was dashing through the sky, as if running on invisible ground.
Boom! A loud crack behind him. Jack turned to see a dark figure streaking through the air toward him.
Seconds later, Rosinante appeared beside him.
"You seem to be enjoying this," Rosinante smirked. "Let's move. Akainu's catching up."
Without waiting for a response, he grabbed Jack by the collar. His feet danced across the air, and the two of them shot forward like a rocket.
Unlike Jack, who had just learned to move weightlessly, Rosinante had mastered it. To enhance his movement in zero-gravity, he'd modeled his footwork after Geppo from the Navy's Six Styles. Though he had never formally trained in Rokushiki, he understood the principles. In zero-gravity, he could replicate Moonwalk effortlessly—something others trained for years to master.
With each kick of air, Rosinante flew faster than most could imagine—almost like true flight, maybe even faster.
Soon, he caught up with the retreating Mammoth Fleet. The Navy was hot on their trail.
The two sides were engaged in a chaotic chase. Because of the noble fleet dragging them down, the Mammoth Fleet was soon caught. However, the Navy didn't immediately close in for boarding. Their numbers were limited, and they couldn't risk heavy casualties. Instead, they bombarded the pirates from a distance.
"Silence Removal!" Rosinante dispelled the gravity effect on Jack—and in the same motion, hurled him like a cannonball.
BOOM! Jack's massive body smashed into a Marine warship, blasting a hole clean through the hull.
"You bastard!" Jack roared as he crawled from the wreckage, eyes blazing at Rosinante above.
"Jack!" The Marines recoiled in shock.
"No way—isn't he supposed to be fighting Vice Admiral Sakazuki?"
"Wait, look up! That's… Rosinante!"
"Don't tell me—did they beat Sakazuki?!"
Panic swept through the Marines.
"Sink their ships! Akainu's closing in fast!" Rosinante barked, diving toward another warship.
"Stop him! Don't let him destroy our ships!" a Marine Rear Admiral shouted.
Rosinante's sword flashed. Silent Slash. Before the Marines even sensed the attack, their sails were in ribbons.
He moved like a phantom, blade cutting with surgical precision. Within moments, the once-mighty warship was a tattered wreck.
Meanwhile, Jack wasn't subtle—he transformed into a towering mammoth and bulldozed through the fleet. The Marines tried to resist, but they couldn't slow him down. Not long after, the warship beneath Jack began to sink, hull shattered beyond repair.
"Damn, that's some brute force," Rosinante muttered, flying down to scoop up the giant mammoth. "If I hadn't been here, you'd be fish food right now. You're a Devil Fruit user, remember?"
Grabbing Jack, he lifted him into the sky once again using Gravity Silence.
Rosinante couldn't help but envy Jack's destructive power. He was strong—no doubt. But when it came to raw damage and sheer chaos, Jack had him beat.
Rosinante's strength came mainly from mastering his Devil Fruit. The Silence-Silence Fruit was powerful, no question—but it lacked that one thing he truly wished for:
Crushing, overwhelming attack power.